America's Got Talent: My Story

As many may now know, I am a two-time contestant on AMERICA'S GOT TALENT where I went in front of the tv judges and the crowd of about a thousand. I decided to write on my experience on this show. I know I owe no one an explanation but I want to reflect on my experience with this show. For four years now, my mom and I have been going to Chicago to try out for this show and have a very long day when going. My mom tries out but is not as successful as me which in some ways makes me feel a bit of guilt knowing she is more of the singer but I know she supports me 100% and is proud of what I have accomplished. I will now reflect some on each year that we have done this show.

America's Got Talent 2008

This is the first year that we tried out for this show when going to Chicago in the February of 2008. This is the year I really intended to just go along for the ride and to support my mother who had already signed herself up on the website. For the day before the show, my mom came through big time scoring tickets for the musical WICKED which was just absolutely phenomenal. The next morning, we prepared to head out to Navy Pier on a cold February day and had to wait in line for a good couple hours, maybe more I don't really remember. However, waiting in line I learned I could try out for this show as well so I went ahead and took an application and filled it out. Like my mom, I opted to be a singer since there really was not much for me in acting. It was then that we were both trying out for this show. After a while, we finally get inside where we had to continue to wait in a room while we waited for numbers to be called out. We waited and waited and then even bonded with some of the others. We learned it is one of those situations where patience is absolutely required and after all this patience it was getting closer and closer as our numbers were called. We then went to the next phase waiting to go into a room to audition. As many know, in this show they are open to just about any talent. I then got put into a group of nine other people and my mom got put into another group and it was on. Ten people in this room together hoping to see those judges in the future. I decided to sing the song WICKED GAME by Chris Isaak seeing as it has a lot of range. They had about three or four people in that room who worked for the show and helped choose who gets to see Piers, Sharon, and David. So when all ten of us were done, we got sent out to the lobby so that the people in that room could contemplate what they wanted. Shortly I hear "you can go back in and we will not be using the rest of you. Thanks for trying out". It was something like that and then it dawned on me that she was referring to me which really surprised me. I go back in there and they did a little interview with me asking questions about who I am, what I do and my goals in life mostly. They then sent me into another room which consisted of the Executive Producers of the show which was about four people and I did my thing. When done, they told me with the singing competition being rough that they had to say no so it was over for that year but I knew I went further than a lot of people. This was one of their last towns so most had already been chosen. Shortly after I was done, my mom and her group of ten came out and were all rejected so that is the end of the 2008 season for us where opera singer Neal E. Boyd would go onto win.

America's Got Talent 2009

We decided to go again and this time I went to see the musical JERSEY BOYS while my mom looked for the hotel. It was a decent show but not a big Four Seasons fan so not as good for me as WICKED. This was about February of this particular year. So it's a new year and a new building. This time, we all got to wait inside but it was one of the first cities they went to and they had to get a lot of audience footage together so for four hours we all had to say "We've Got Talent!" and other things. It was also the first year for host Nick Cannon and they had to get footage of him so there were lots of takes which just became so frustrating. However, I am a survivor and knew that at some point all the chaos would end and it would be time. This time, Chicago was one of the first towns. We were in a waiting room and waiting for our numbers to be called while getting to know people. After hours of waiting, it was getting close and then it was the same routine. Once again, we were being grouped up into about ten people. I managed to get into a different group than my mom which I purposely did because I am just uneasy being in the same room with her. It was not personal, just felt in my mind there might be some conflict of interest which my mom understood. I soon made it into the room to sing with the nine others. We all did our thing. I once again did Chris Isaak's WICKED GAME and after that we were sent out to the hall which I came out and soon heard "Shaun Berkey" so I was going back in. They called me in there to ask me some questions. One of the people may have been the one from the year before. I was then sent to another part of the building to wait for the executive producers. When waiting, I saw all kinds of diverse acts but just biding my time before I finally walked into the room to be asked to perform again and get interviewed. Last time, they just flat out told me no but this time they told me they would call me if they are going to use me. While it was different, I didn't really expect much but boy was I wrong.

A month or two had gone by and I sure was not expecting or really even thinking about a call at this point. However, I got that call on what may very well be the weirdest day of my life. That day, I believe in March, I went to the funeral of my friend Mike Jones from high school. It was kind of a rough week as he was a good friend to me. I also got to see many people I had not seen for a long time. After that funeral I went home but a lot of us were going to meet later that evening at the Fickle Peach so I headed home. I was upset but glad to see a lot of my friends and then I got the call around 6 pm or so and it was from America's Got Talent. This was not really an official call but one to remain on standby but asked me to come up with about five songs to look into. I was pretty excited just on account that I even got this call so I started coming up with things. It was probably about two weeks later when I went to go see the play ORPHANS at the Muncie Civic Studio Theater and between a scene I checked my phone real quick and saw I had a voicemail which was likely from them. It was during intermission, I rushed outside to hear the voice mail and there was mention of good news. I was able to call them and get a hold of them. They told me they wanted to fly me out to L.A. It was very hard to come up with something as everything I asked about he said would be rejected. I decided upon I CAN'T MAKE YOU LOVE ME sung mainly by Bonnie Raitt but by other men and women. I had sang it from time to time on kareoke and I thought it worked very well so came up with that to sing. I had to take some unscheduled time off work and I was flown to L.A. and had my hotel room paid for.

My mom decided to come with me and paid for a plane ticket and just stayed in my room. She was probably the most excited. Before we left for the airport, we visited her work for a minute and her boss immediately congratulated me and a couple of her clients caught on and were excited. One of them said "I think she's more excited than he is" and then her boss replied "I think that is a safe assumption". This was true though my excitement was on the inside and I was just trying to get into the mode. Soon we were off and arrived at the airport to be flown out. I had to wear the same exact thing I did for the preliminary rounds in Chicago when on this show. As soon as I arrived to the hotel, I called my contact and he asked me to wait in the lobby so that I could be driven out to the theater for interviews. I then got picked up and it was there I began to learn a lot about reality television. When getting there, I was most observant on this guy that appeared to be a Rod Stewart impersonator who was being interviewed at the time. My mom and I, and possibly others were first asked to sit down. They even positioned our chairs for the people in the background so they could record us while doing interviews. They soon got to me and started asking me about things like my work, and other things I do. I then talked to them about how I work at a call center. I also talked about my community theater background as well as my involvement in the wrestling industry as a ring announcer. It was an interesting process. They did not really try to put answers in my head but they would just coach me to reword them since I was the only person talking. Once it was over, I went back to my room and then went to the bar and it was there I met the Rod Stewart impersonator who I hung out with a lot.

The next day was when I was scheduled to go on and that was the first time I met Kevin Skinner who won the show that year who I also hung out with a lot. I met a female ventriloquist and another female comedian when in the lobby. There was also a girl from THE BIGGEST LOSER that I met who I guess had already gone and said she did not make it. I do not know who it was but my mom was excited since I guess she saw the show. When getting to the theater I saw all kinds of diverse people and I was just doing what I could to stay psyched. Sometimes I was practicing and other times I was just standing to the side by myself. My mom was talking to this one woman who was the female comedian and she was just hysterical with nervousness which were the types of people I tried to stay away from. It was a pretty fun time though no matter how long the day was but I had no idea when I was going on. Through this, I started going around meeting some of the other acts and talking to Kevin some and his wife who were very nice people. Later in the evening though, that show got canceled because Sharon Osbourne was not feeling good so back to the hotel it was and back to the hotel bar for me. I got quite wasted that night while hanging with my mom and other people who were part of the show.

The next day, I pretty much hung out by myself at the hotel until my call times. I practiced some but realized I can only do so much so I just got myself motivated as much as possible. Around 3 or 4 pm or so the van came over and picked us up and here I was back at the theater. I still had to wait for sometime so I just started mingling with people out there including a guy who claimed to be an Elvis impersonator but yet months later, the act really had nothing to do with Elvis. Later in the evening though, the wristband around my wrist was cut which meant I was getting closer and closer to walking out on that stage. Before I knew it, it was official, I was on that stage where in front of me was Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff and the thousand or so behind them in the audience. It was a very surreal moment to say the least. They started asking me questions and then had me do my thing. As soon as I even hit that first note, the crowd was booing me out of the building and I got X's from Sharon and David. However, strangely enough Piers was not hitting his and I got through it. I knew right there I was not going to Vegas. Sharon started out mostly with some constructive criticism. David was the meanest and had some pretty degrading things to say including how many dogs would be howling if they could hear what I was doing. Piers then actually reminded me that he did not buzz me and in his British accent said "I actually grew to love you Shaun". I then walked away, I did not backtalk any of the judges or create any drama. Nick Cannon asked me a few things backstage and then I went back. My mom was there to greet me with a hug and proud that I even had the guts to try. Later that night, I was with my mom in the hotel bar and I was a little depressed. I asked my mom if this was really wanted to do this again and gave an immediate yes. For the rest of the evening, I hung out in the bar with all the other AGT alums reflecting on our experiences. The next day I returned home to the real world.

In the later months the show aired and a couple people I had known made it into the top 40 including Kevin Skinner who won and Tony Horde and his dog Rockin' Rory who also made it quite far. Tony actually lives less than an hour from us so that was cool. I knew that if I was supposed to be shown on television that it was to be the Chicago audition so in those shows I was not shown so I thought I was not to be shown but would learn that I was quite wrong. They did an episode for the people who made it on Myspace. I was watching the episode but was going in and out as I was doing things on the computer. Next thing I know though I hear this all-too familiar voice and then my name from Muncie, Indiana and I pretty much flipped out not really wanting it to be aired. They only aired about 30 seconds of it and then had Piers saying "not in a million light years" which is actually not what he said but oh well. I was officially on national tv where all the calls started coming in as well as the Facebook and Myspace messages. In public, people recognized me though mostly people who at least had met me except one person I did not recognize. At the time I was in BIG RIVER at Muncie Civic Theater and my biggest concern was how they would react but they were all very supportive of me and things were just fine. My dad later brought to my attention the bloggers who were reviewing the episodes and some pretty interesting comments made on me. They were all quite degrading but I just laughed it off. Others have seen this but when I was first on that tv screen, I paused it and then fast forwarded it and I have not seen it. I then decided that I would try it again the next year.

America's Got Talent 2010
So I'm at it again, trying out for this show again and this time it was around November of 2009. I believe and while we had to wait outside, it was much nicer than usual. This day did not seem nearly as long as the other days. I still really enjoyed hanging out in the waiting room and seeing and meeting other people with their unique talents. Later that day, we were gathered up as usual to go try out. This time was a bit different and while I tried to get out of being in the same room as my mom, it just was not meant to be. It was actually myself, her and younger girl. We did our thing and then was just told we would be contacted so it was not like the other years for me but in some ways I was not real upset. This year I did not make it on so I'll just move onto this year.

America's Got Talent 2011

It's about November of 2010 and here my mom and I were returning to the show we just cannot stay away from. We then saw the wonderful waiting room full of those hoping to show off their talent and recall us meeting a female Elvis impersonator who called herself Pelvis. This year I maneuvered more to get a room without my mom. When in line, anyone who joined the line I allowed to go before me and our numbers were quite off and it happened. I love my mom with everything I got but I just did not want to be in the same room with her then for some reason. We were then brought to another room where they grouped us with different people and in this group were me and some singers. I could tell most of these people had never really done this so with my experience I tried to keep them in good spirits and to remember that there are only about three or four people watching. We then all got sent in the room and did our thing. I decided to change it up this year though after three years of Chris Isaak's WICKED GAME. I chose my favorite singer Peter Gabriel this year and his song IN YOUR EYES. Once we were all done, we went back out to the lobby and I hear "Shaun Berkey" and the others told they could go now. It was then time to go back in there and they recognized me from 2009 and just asked what went wrong. I then explained that it was something I had not done and that I got nervous. They then sent me back out to the lobby. I was out there for sometime and then I was told that I could leave which kind of surprised me as the routine was different so along with my Mom we are leaving Chicago to go back home. We were almost out of Chicago before I hear my phone vibrate and I learned I was told to leave prematurely. I was then asked if I could come back and my awesome mother turned that car around to go back. When getting back I rushed back and was then sent to see the executive producers which was more what I was expecting. I had to wait some time but then finally was called to go in there which was most of the same routine. Sing my song and then ask me questions a lot of which were about 2009 when I was on the show. I mostly told them what I told the first group. The session went pretty well. They were all pretty nice and I knew after this was over, I was about to make another appearance. Afterwards, my mom and I stopped at Hooters which was my first time believe it or not to go to that place. I just needed me a beer and I got one.

It was a cold day in December in which I was watching football one evening and I saw that the call was from California which I knew right away who it was. It was them calling me to stay on standby but was not official. I then moved on with my life while contemplating songs. Around February, I was in a murder mystery called THE DUMB AND THE DESPERATE which my mom was directing and co-starred. We started by having rehearsals at the house and my mom was out doing things and I was at the house while waiting for rehearsal. I then got an e-mail and it was official, I was making my second appearance on that tv show. When my mom got back home, I left the e-mail up and asked my mom to read it making it sound like it may not be that great and she just screamed in excitement. I really wanted the right song but copyright did not make that very easy. Each week, I was asked to e-mail five songs and they would just keep getting rejected. I really wanted to do Peter Gabriel's IN YOUR EYES like I did at the preliminaries but it like many other songs got rejected. It was getting frustrating but I finally settled on the Frank Sinatra version of LUCK BE A LADY. I did not really want to do that or that version but knew I would have to go to the Rat Pack type stuff so I put everything I had to learn that song.
It was then the end of March and I was being flown to Minneapolis, Minnesota this time to be on the show. I went at this one alone for various reasons but knew my mom was there in spirit. After many delays and trouble finding where I was supposed to go, I made my way to the hotel in Downtown Minneapolis that evening and even met some of the acts like Ian Johnson, the person many of you might have seen with the yo-yo. In the bar, I encountered people who I could tell were somehow involved and learned that each of them had a daughter and it was a trio of three high school age black girls and they are the people I probably bonded with the most there. They were all just very nice people. I then spoke to them for quite a while. I also met quite a bit of people who were shown on tv like Sid Yiddish and Walt Winston who I am now facebook friends with. Sid was the throat singer and Walt was the folk singer singing about truckers not supposed to cry. I also saw the dance group Fatally Unique and the large dance group Silhouettes. I also saw the group of gnomes but never really spoke to them and never saw them out of custome. They were going to have me do an interview that night but put it off until the next day so I just enjoyed myself at the hotel until I went to bed.

The next day I spent very limited time in my hotel room and pretty much just walked around or hung out with other people that I recognized like Ian. It was then time to go out to the theater. I arrived there and once again saw all the unique acts. This was a lot smaller than in L.A. when there was all kinds of room but I adapted. I was finally interviewed and just said how I was looking to try this one more time. This year this did not take nearly as long to get on stage and before I knew it I was being taken backstage for the start of their next show segment. I was excited but also realistic and just really hoping for the best. The first people that went out was Fatally Unique which is that dance group with the weird hair and clothing for a lack of a better explanation. I then was sent to talk to Nick Cannon who evidently had the background info on me as he asked right away "Have we met" so explained that I was there to try again. I also thought after Fatally Unique was done "I have to follow that". I then was sent to the stage and when giving my name Piers asked if we had met so reminded him of 2009. This year the only difference was Howie Mandel instead of David Hasselhoff. Howie was pretty nice and Piers was too. I told them I was looking for a second chance and I got it. It was then time to do my thing but when hearing the audience boo, I knew this was not meant to be. Shortly Sharon and Piers buzzed me but Howie did not buzz me so I did the whole thing and in the LUCK BE A LADY chorus, the crowd got into it but it was too late. Howie might have been curious as to what was in my hand for why he did not get me, I'm not sure. I had dice in my hand I was looking at as part of my routine. It was over and it was time to face the judges. Piers was very honest in his thoughts but I did not feel he was mean. He just felt that the show was not for me and I then had my unwritten script ready. I told him "you know Piers, I'll just say this. I have done a lot of local theater and I am more of an actor." He then agreed and believe it or not told the audience they should give me a standing ovation for this realization that I am just not really a singer. The judges then said no and Piers said "no to this but yes to acting". In the back Nick compared me to Mark Wahlberg who many know was a rapper before he became the actor he is today. Afterwards, one of the parents I was with a lot was backstage and immediately greeted me and shook my hand admiring that I gave it a shot which meant a lot to me. I was then tracked down by a psychiatrist who worked for them I believe talking to the people who did not make it through. She just wanted to make sure I was okay so I just told her that I'm a bit depressed but that I'll be fine. It was awkward but I knew she was just doing a job so I played along. What I did not want was to make a fool of myself as a person so while the act did not go so well, I tried to remain professional which the judges seemed to admire as they were pretty nice to me. I saw Ian in the back who did not go on yet and wished him good luck. I then went back to the hotel.

When I got back, the first thing I did was go to my room and call my mom. I let her know that it just was not meant to be and she let me know how proud she was of me that I tried. Once I was done talking to her, I went back down to the lobby where the bar was and started drinking and was a bit drunk but not bad though. I then interacted with others from the show. An interesting person I met was the guy from Gasmask 90 Seconds who was very excited how much the judges hated him. I then talked to Sid, Ian, the people from Fatally Unique, among many others. It was a fun night while a little depressed since I really wanted to do it. Just recently, they aired many of these acts but I was not shown which was fine with me. I don't feel I was disrespectful enough to be aired. Many of these people I had met I had no idea what they did. Ian Johnson made it to the top 48 and I really liked that kid and intend to support him when he goes on.

Conclusion

I know you have all waited for that word. It has been quite an experience being on this show. I can now say that I am two-time contestant on AMERICA'S GOT TALENT while I probably had more guts than brains, I will just accept that and embrace. I do not intend to try out for the show again and there will be no part three to this story. I have retired myself from these kinds of shows. Going on that stage is something so surreal that no one can understand until they have done it but I'm proud that I had the balls to do it. I am more of an actor and there really is nothing on that show to really show off that talent. My mom will soon be trying out for Season 2 of THE VOICE and I really wish her well as she deserves that type of show far more than me. I really enjoyed I do not know if she will do AGT again and if she does I support her. I figure if I can establish an acting career that maybe I can get a booking on Piers Morgan's show. Sometimes when looking back I think "why me"? I do not feel I am a horrible singer, just not good enough for a career. I am more of a theatrical singer. I do feel that part of what got me on the show is just my interview skills and my outgoing personality with a bit of singing talent. It could be a number of things. I just want to thank everyone for their support, especially my Mom who I love to no end and was the biggest supporter of them all. Well, that's all folks.